If you're planning a trip abroad this summer, USA Today has some tips for staying in touch with your friends and family while you're away from home.

The article discusses the cell phone standards GSM and CDMA, and it looks like for most of your international travels you'd want a GSM phone (T-Mobile, Cingular) by your side. After you figure out which kind of phone you need, the article describes different ways to pay for your mobile minutes. Luckily there are a lot of options, and calling from abroad has never been easier.

Finally, if you don't need a cell phone, there's always VoIP. Any international travelers have advice for keeping in touch outside the cozy borders of your mother country? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.